


Another Story

by IaMcHrIsSi



Series: My Star Wars AUs [3]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2016-01-12
Packaged: 2018-04-12 09:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4474484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IaMcHrIsSi/pseuds/IaMcHrIsSi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Han had been a Jedi Youngling?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> Actually, I love the fact that in canon Han is not force sensitive. Like, he's an awesome pilot and general without any 'help'. But this AU idea wouldn't leave me alone, so here, have another AU.

The cantina is full. It’s loud and dark and Han can feel the barely concealed aggression radiating of pretty much everyone. Nothing unusual, so far, but something is off in this cantina. Something is about to happen, and he should be here for it. Han tries to surpress the feeling. He can see that the patrons here are a bad bunch. He needs to keep an eye on them and he really doesn’t want distractions from that. And no, nothing else will happen. And he most definitively did not come here because he felt the Force pull him into this direction.

Han closes his eyes, takes a deep breath. No thinking about the Force. Ignoring it has worked well for the last 19 years, and he knows better than to change up a winning gig. Still he stays, hand on his blaster and eyes on the entrance.

He just sits there for a couple more minutes, has a drink and listens to the gossip. The gossip is one of the reasons, probably even the main reason, he frequents such bars. It’s always good to be informed of the Empire’s movements. That, and the fact that this is pretty much the best way to get jobs.

Han takes a sip of his drink and nearly spits it out again. Someone is coming. Someone who has an enormous presence in the Force. More than that. The presence seems… familiar. A call back to a better time. A Jedi, then. It feels like a punch in the gut. Han has not felt any Jedi in years. In the end he had just assumed that they all died. It made things easier.

He tries to think rationally. Probably it’s a former padawan learner, or maybe even a knight, going by the very deliberate use of mental shields. They are strong enough to conceal the Jedi from any non-trained force-sensitive. Nothing stronger, but then again the Jedi doesn’t seem to be expecting trouble. The presence is bright and controlled enough for the Jedi to be a master, but Han is rather sure that none of those survived. Not that he has looked into it all that much.

(He has. Of course he has. But he has never admitted it to himself, preferring to forget, or at least to pretend to forget.)

Quickly he strengthens his mental shields. It’s the only Jedi thing he has practised since 66, the only thing he needs. A Jedi would not attack him, of course not, would probably even welcome him with open arms, but Han does not want to be noticed. He doesn’t want to be pulled back into all the crap the Jedi did or the stuff they got themselves into. He doesn’t want to remember. He’s not one of them, not anymore.

(A scream from the younglings dorm. Clones swarming the place. Shooting at them, even though they are supposed to be the good guys. White armor. A blue blade, held by one of Han’s heroes, cutting through Amik’s body.)

Han shakes his head. Memories are not helpful right now. He looks around, trying to find the newcomer. It’s a young boy, twenty standard at most, and an old man. For the second time in under ten minutes Han feels as though the rug has been pulled out under him. 

The kid looks familiar, in some strange way. Maybe Han has met him before on this dustball. But no, the boy has a strong, untrained presence in the force. Han would remember it. But it’s the man that really shocks him. Old, and in dirty, patched up robes, wrinkled and with a world-weary expression, but Han would recognize those eyes everywhere. 

Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Great Negotiatior, Anakin Skywalker’s master and partner. Han had looked up to the man more than he had to any other Jedi. He’d always assumed that Master Kenobi had died in 66. 

Well, obviously not. Han takes another drink, keeps his eye on Mas… Kenobi. No calling the guy master, he chides himself, not even in your own head. Han is Han Solo, Corellian smuggler and proud captain of the Millenium Falcon. He calls no one „Master“.

Kenobi goes around, while the kid stays at the bar. He looks uncomfortable, that kid, and Han grins. Probably never been in a cantina like this before. Poor little farmboy. The boy talks to a guy at the bar, who gets more and more irritated. Han has a hand on his blaster without even thinking about it.

(Stupid, a part of him screams. You are not responsible for this kid. If he gets himself killed, that’s absolutely not your fault. But there’s another voice, quieter, steadier. It tells him that yes, looking out for the kid is the right, that’s is his duty to protect. The voice is old and green and has a funny accent. Han resolutely ignores both of them.)

And then, suddenly everything happens at once. Han knows it will happen half a second before it does. He feels the shift in the Force.

(And what is going on today, for him to feel the Force so strongly, after years and years and years of successfully, happily ignoring it?)

The kid is attacked. Kenobi steps in. For the first time in 19 years, Han hears the hum of a lightsaber, sees the blade flash through the air. Instinctually, he wants to run, 

(Amik and Lema and Master Ti and all of them and why is Master Skywalker attacking us? He is a hero! And Uloh and L'mei and Par'mi and all of them are dead and …)

Han takes a deep breath. To many memories for one day. But Han can deal with memories. Has done so for years. He controlls his breathing, looks around.

The other patrons keep a respectful distance from Kenobi and the kid. Good for them. Chewie is… Chewie is talking to Kenobi. Of course he is. It’s not that they don’t need a job, they most certainly do, Jabba is getting impatient and both Han and Chewie know what that means, but Kenobi? Taking a Jedi as a passenger? That will only end in trouble, Han just knows it.

But they offer money, way to much money for the short trip to Alderaan. Of course they would not want to be recognized, but Han still prods a bit, asks whether they have trouble here. It’s what he does with every passenger, and Chewie has been looking strangely at him, so he doesn’t want to give his friend reason to worry. Han and Chewie have never talked about Han’s past, but Han knows that Chewie knows, and it’s easier to just, you know, not mention it. 

Kenobi and the kid leave. Han finishes his drink. He needs the money, he reminds himself. And this is just a normal job. It’s not like Han hasn’t had wanted passengers or hot cargo before. There is nothing unusual about this. Nothing.

Greedo is a bit of an inconvenience, but honestly, the guy is more stupid than any bounty hunter Han has ever had the displeasure of knowing. Han leaves his last credits to the bar owner, and leaves to have an uncomfortable conversation with Jabba himself.

Then, finally, he can go back to his ship.

(And no, he is not miffed that Master Kenobi didn’t recognize him. Why would he be? It’s not like he wants the man to notice Han. He doesn’t want to get back onto the Jedi bullshit. He’s done with that. And he does not need to remeber. He will bring them to Alderaan, and then he can just go on with his life. Without Jedi or the Force or bad memories that will only get him killed. He does this job and then he can go back to forgetting, or at least pretending to forget.)


	2. Chapter 2

From the moment Kenobi and the boy step foot on the Falcon, Han is on the edge. It's just... a feeling that things won't go as planned, combined with the fact that _Master Kenobi_ is here, alive and old and still able to recognize Han, that makes Han incredibly uncomfortable.

Chewie notices. Of course Chewie notices. They have never talked about Han's past, never even broached the topic, but Han is pretty sure Chewie has put the pieces together. The Wookie once told him that he'd fought in the Clone Wars with Master Yoda, and Han has taken that to mean that he knows.

After escaping the blockade around Tatooine, Han decides to stay in the cockpit. It's not truly hiding, he tells himself, even though he actually knows better. He's just making sure they aren't followed. Chewie gives him a look, and Han knows that he hasn't even fooled his old friend.

Still, as cowardly as it sounds, Han does not want to talk to Kenobi. He just doesn't. Obi-Wan Kenobi is part of a past Han left behind years ago, a past that he has no intention of ever revisiting. And agreeing to bring the old man from Tatooine to Alderaan does not mean that Han has to talk to him.

The kid comes to the cockpit after a while. Han can't shake the feeling that he should recognize the boy, and there is something tickling in the back of his mind, but he can't put a finger on it. He's seen these blue eyes before, but where?

The boy is glaring at Han. Han tries to ignore it. Sure, he did kinda cheat the old man on the price, but there's no way _Obi-Wan Kenobi,_ hero of the Clone Wars and legendary Jedi, didn't notice that, so he refuses to feel guilty about it in any way, shape or form.

He glances at the kid. Still glaring. Is he going to stay like this for the entire trip? _This is going to be looong trip,_ Han thinks and turns back to his contolls.

“I know you're a smuggler.” The kid says. Agression. Really? How old is this kid anyway? He can't be older than twenty, a farmboy leaving his planet for the first time.

“Nice observation, kid.” Han says, not looking at the boy. “But the old man pays well for this trip, so I'll get you there, and you'll just have to deal with it, kid.”

“Stop calling me kid! My name is Luke, Luke Skywalker. I'm not a kid!” The kid is angry, but Han only doesn't truly notice. Luke _Skywalker_. Like _Anakin Skywalker._

_(Watching holo features about the heroics of the Hero without Fear and the Great Negotiator, hoping to be like them, then, suddenly blaster fire, fear, panic, hope at seeing the hero, only to be cruelly taken away.)_

Han shakes himself out of his memories. The faster he gets rid of these people, the better. There's a good reason he never confronted those memories. He tries to concentrate, to focus on the problems in the here and now.

“Okay, _Luke,_ point stays the same. You'll just have to deal with it. I bring you to Alderaan, and then we'll never have to see eaach ther again.” The kid rolls his eyes, and Han almost snorts. He looks a great deal like Anakin Skywalker, this kid, now that Han knows that there's a connection between them. Maybe a distant relative? A cousin, or a sibling? But why would Kenobi stay with a sibling of his former padawan? No, if Han thinks about it, really thinks about it, the only way this makes sense is if the kid is Anakin Skywalkers son. He's got the right age, and Kenobi looking over Skywalkers son would explain why the old man never bothered searching for any surviving Younglings.

_Well, shouldn't be too surprised about that,_ Han thinks, not without bitterness.  _It's hardly the only rule Anakin Skywalker broke, nor is it the worst one._

“What are you and the old man even going to do on Alderaan? It's not exactly the neighboring planet.” Han can't help but ask, even though he knows it's stupid.

“I'm going to be a Jedi like my father.” The kid is so sincere about it, so hopeful, that Han almost laughs. Or cries. He's not really sure. The kid isn't aware of how impossible this is, to be a Jedi because one's father was. Obviously, Kenobi didn't really tell him much about the Jedi. _Or about his father_ , Han thinks darkly.

“The Jedi are gone. Best get used to it.” Han says, okay, snaps, and turns back to his controls. This time, the kid gets the hint and leaves.

* * *

It's a couple hours later when he finally leaves the cockpit himself. Chewie's been glaring at him for a few hours, and Han can't truly ignore it anymore.

He finds Kenobi and the kid are discussing some basic Force theories that Han recognizes from his lessons with Master Yoda. One could almost get nostalgic. Almost.

When the kid takes out the lightsaber, Han grips his blaster, ready for anything. It's stupid, they don't want to attack him, and anyway, even though the kid is apparently Anakin Skywalkers son, Han doesn't think he has it in him to really attack anyone, but still, there's something about the glow of a lightsaber, it's hum and feeling in the Force, that throws him back to being ten and on the run.

Then Kenobi gives the kid the no sight helmet. Force, this is a thing for six year olds, not for a guy around twenty. It looks exactly as ridiculous as it sounds, and Han can't help but snort.

Of course, then he has to explain why it's funny without mentioning that he knows exactly where this helmet was used in the Temple.

“Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.” He says, which is close enough to the truth and a good lesson, too, if the kid chooses to listen. It's something he'd thought Kenobi would have learned, given that the old master is still alive and had seen what Han had seen, but obviously that's not what happened.

“You don't believe in the Force, do you?” The kid asks, and Han almost wants to laugh. If it were that easy...

“Kid, I've flown from one side of the galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe that there's one all powerful Force controlling everything.” _Lie._ “Cause no mystical Force field controls my destiny.” _Truth._ “It's all a lot of simple tricks and nonsense.” _A bit of both._

The kid turns back to Kenobi, who assures him that of course the Force is real, and Han can go back to his cards. He can feel Kenobis eyes on his back though, searching, wondering. As though he realized something is off about Han.

* * *

Later that evening, when the kid is already sleeping in his cot, Kenobi comes to the Cockpit. He just stands there for a few moments, waiting for Han to speak, as he did so often in the Temple.

And as it was when Han was just a tiny Youngling, he falls for it. “Was there anything you needed?” He asks the old man, not even bothering to sound polite.

“I thought your position on the question whether the Force exists or not to be rather interesting. If I guessed your age right, you would have been around 10 when the Jedi Order fell, old enough to remember it. Do you truly believe that all of them were liars?” Kenobi speaks calmly, almost as if only making small talk. Han sees right through it, though. The old man is fishing. He knows something is up, and he wants to figure out what. Obi-Wan Kenobi was always known for being clever.

Han takes a moment to strengthen his mental shields and come up with an answer. “I don't know about the Jedi.” He says. “But they all died in the end, didn't they? So, if there was some sort of cosmic Force, why didn't it save them?”

_(Fire and death and desperation in the Force, confusion everywhere, darkness swirling around, threatening to drown out everything else)_

“I don't know. Maybe it was time for something like this, maybe the Dark Side was simply stronger. But as the Jedi always say, There is no death...” Kenobi doesn't get any further before Han interrupts him.

“There is only the Force, I know.” Han snaps, and immediately starts cursing. _Stupid, so stupid._ He'd gone out of his way to make sure that Kenobi really didn't realize that he was a Youngling, and then he goes and quotes the Code in front of him. _So very stupid._

Kenobi is grinning. Really grinning, you could almost call it beaming. Han shakes his head.

“I left that life behind, Master, and I ain't getting back in. Get that thought out of your head immediately.” He says, but Kenobi isn't convinced, of course he isn't.

“That's what you say now...” The old man murmurs, and Han leaves him there. He tells himself that he isn't running from the conversation, but honestly, he's not even fooling himself.


	3. Chapter 3

The kid is playing with the no sight helmet again when Han feels it. Something... _pulls him under_ , or pushes down, or swallows him whole... it's indescribable, t's like a puch in the gut, _again,_ and Han has no idea what to make of it.

_(it feels almost like it did last time)_

He is quite happy that he is already sitting, because he thinks that it's quite likely that his legs would have given out under him under the assault of these … feelings. The Force is in an uproar, and it threatens to overwhelm Han, even as he tries to shut it out.

_(the screams of dozens of children, the knowledge of them being murdered, fires everywhere, a pull in the Force, as if the very universe is protesting the events)_

Kenobi seems to feel it, too, if his sudden paleness and the fact that he immediately sits down is any indication. The kid puts down the lightsaber and goes over to the old man.

_(it's stupid, but the moment the lightsaber stops swinging, stops humming so omniously, Han can suddenly breathe a little easier. Not much, but a bit)_

“It's as though... a billion voices cried out in agony and were suddenly silenced.” Kenobi says, and for all it sounding very poetic, like a bad holonovel, really, it actually describes the feeling very well, Han has to admit. He is happy that the kid is too distracted by Kenobi to notice him, and quickly flees to the cockpit.

Chewie of course notices that something is off. Sometimes, Han really wishes his best friend was less perceptive.

_Is everything okay?_ The Wookie growls, concern clear in his voice. Han considers just saying yes, but he knows Chewie would call him out on it immediately. Better just get it over with.

“Not really. Something... happened. It's not good. Really not. I don't know what it means.” He says, and goes over the flight data just for something to do.

_(but, painful as it is, he has a pretty good idea what this means. He has felt it before. He just doesn't want to admit it to himself just yet)_

Not finding Alderaan is not as much as a surprise as it really should be.

* * *

It's completely unreasonable, and unnecessary, too, but there's a part of Han that feels ashamed showing Kenobi the smuggling compartments of the Falcon. It's not that the old man didn't know Han is a smuggler these days, or that Han wants to impress him, or anything, it's just... the old man is Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han's childhood hero. Climbing down those rooms with him feels _wrong._

At least the kid seems exited. Han has a feeling that for Luke, this all is an amazing adventure. For some reason, that makes him want to put Luke back on his home planet, to safety, where he will not have to see his heroes fall.

_(Han doesn't have any heroes left)_

Han's not even truly sure why he is going along with this stupid, doomed plan, other than the fact that he _knows_ they have to do something, and Master Kenobi has always been a warrior, someone who was known for being a great military tactician, and well... _Obi-Wan Kenobi._

He does call the man a fool, though. He would have never dared to do that in his time at the temple, and it is meant to prove that no, he is really not going back to being a Youngling who just listens to the wise Jedi master. It would have made him feel better if the old man didn't use Jedi wisdoms to turn the insult right back to Han. While smiling.

Seeing stormtroopers has luckily never given Han flashbacks. Which is actually interesting, because he has loads of triggers, but for some reason the white uniforms and sightless helmets don't belong to them. A part of Han wants to examine that, but a much bigger part is just happy to simply ignore everything that lies in the past.

Of course, _that_ has become increasingly difficult ever since he picked up the old man and the kid from that thrice cursed dustball.

Kenobi promises to disable the tractor beam, and Han has a horrible, sinking feeling in his gut. He tells himself that it's not a Force warning, that it's simply the part of him that's still ten and in need of parental guidance which really doesn't want to see the master leave, but deep down he knows better. Kenobi smiles, though, accepting of what seems to be his fate, so Han doesn't say anything. It's not his responsibility if an old man dies or not, he thinks.

_(he wants to stop the old man. Wants to figure out a better plan, something that will allow all of them to get away. But there's still a part of him that blindly trusts the old master, it seems, and so he doesn't speak up, just lets Kenobi go to what could very well be his doom.)_

* * *

Standing in the command station on an Imperial Deathstar, dressed in an ill fitting storm trooper armour, Han curses himself for never following up on any training in Force suggestions. His improvisation skills are not that great, and he does not need the Force to tell him that the troopers who called the station are not convinced by his lies.

Well, it's probably Han's own fault for going along with the kids stupid plan to free the princess.

“Luke, we're going to have company.” He tells the kid, and hopes that he is not going to die here, stupidly trying to be a hero.

* * *

The princess, Han decides, is an incredibly annoying, entitled, crazy lady. She's also very pretty, but that's no where near the point.

At least she knows how to shoot.

_(He can't help but appreciate the way she takes the blaster from the kid and gets all of them out of the immediate cross fire. The trash container is dirty, smelly, and they nearly die, but at least she proves to have a brain. And when she hugs him in the relief of not actually being dead, he feels her shaking, smells sweat and chemicals that must be torture drugs, and feels more than a bit horrible for his previous assessment of her. She's just as much a kid as Luke is, and she just lost her entire planet. And what the Imps did to her... he doesn't even want to imagine.)_

The fact that she calls Chewie a “walking carpet” still pisses Han off, though.

* * *

And then, suddenly, everything stops again.

Vader, dark both in appearance and in the Force, and Kenobi, light and weary duel across the hall. Han is thown back twenty years, to the bravest of the Younglings, those who tried to stop Anakin Skywalker.

_(screams of horror and pain, dying younglings all around him, Skywalker cutting effortlessly through any sort of resistance, the smell of smoke)_

It's over quickly. Han is not quite sure how he gets the kid and the princess back to the Falcon, or how he himself found the strength to move his legs, to tear himself away from the sight of Master Kenobi, the last of the Jedi falling to the floor, but somehow he does.

_(he shouldn't be this affected by all of this. He'd assumed that Kenobi was dead for almost twenty years now, but somehow... this is different. But he can't allow it to be. If he does, he would open a can of worms he's happily buried or years. Still.)_

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr as lukeleiahan


End file.
